Oops! And I thought last week was the final entry. I know that I have discussed family treasures over the past eleven months. One of my favorites is the cocoa pot that my great-grandmother gave me when I was a teenager. That story along with a picture of her and the pot is located right *here* on October 5, 2007.

However, I do have an old violin that I cherish as well...a gift from my grandfather who was a self-taught fiddler. I am able to play simple pieces by ear. Discovering that, my grandfather hoped that, if I just had a violin, I would be able to duplicate what I was doing on the piano and the harmonica with it. It never worked out that way. These days I display the violin even though its strings are long gone and the horse hairs of the bow are few. I display it and remember the music and the love of my grandfather. Here's a reenactment...use your imagination as I must now, though I have added some music to the top right for a bit of help with imagining fiddle music, if you'd like to click there.

Treasures of former days fill my home from photographs to old high-top boots. Tea cups, an odd assortment of dishes, old linens — all the things that most women have in their homes. I hope to visit all of you to see your treasures before week's end. Please join the tour by clicking on the description of this week's event above.

Also, I just want to take this opportunity to thank Miss Sandy so much for all of her hard work and all the enjoyment and education that this blog-a-thon has provided us.

Saturday, June 28, 2008

ETA: Disclaimer...this recipe is a work in progress; I am not happy with the progress...stay tuned!

ETA Again: They're not pretty, but they're tasty. That they're not pretty is my own fault, but some adjustments definitely are in order. My tips are added in red below, along with some pics.

My son called last evening to say that he was bringing the boys over this morning around ten. Yippee! I am up early to get busy with this day. Right after I toddler proof the downstairs and get dressed, I'll be slapping these Cinnamon Rolls together.

I often search The Cake Mix Doctor for recipes, but I don't know where I got this recipe. It's not my own; it's not from another blog; that's all I know. Later, I should have a pic or two to add, but how bad can it be presented in a skillet and created from a cake mix?!

* Butter bottom and sides of two 10-inch skillets using a stick of butter per pan. (No, no, no! A half stick per pan will be more than enough. I only used half a stick per pan and you can see below that it was MORE than enough.)

* Sprinkle buttered skillets with the remaining brown sugar and nuts.

* Put the rolls in skillets and allow to rise an additional hour.

* Bake at 350° for 15–20 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and turn rolls out of skillets onto plates. Use any remaining caramel in the skillets to spread on the rolls.

As you can see, a half stick of butter per pan is more than plenty.

This should have been divided for ease of handling, but the recipe did not say that. Don't make my mistake because there is no way to create beautiful cinnamon rolls this way.

I made some of Lovella's Paska frosting to go with the cinnamon rolls. You can find that recipe right here on March 13.

Here are two of my eager guests. In the end, I had five eager guests. You bake it, they will come.

Friday, June 27, 2008

Sometimes when we're under life's stresses we just don't realize how prickly we can become. I have, apparently, been quite prickly. No one in my usual sphere told me this, but I realized it all the same while talking with Verizon HELP yesterday.

You see, it seems that MSN and Verizon (recently purchased by Fairpoint in my area), aren't getting along as far as technical matters specifically email and MSN messenger. A friend has been telling me for days, weeks, to call MSN and get it worked out. Her philosophy is that I'm paying good money for the service and it ought to be top notch. Yup. I agree.

Many calls have been made this week. I've spoken with a very nice young lady named Vijay from India, I've spoken with Michael, and Whoever-It-Was yesterday. All were eager to help. All didn't help much at all. It was causing my patience to experience a blow out.

The final straw came yesterday when I realized that Michael from MSN had removed my Verizon account from my MSN page. What?! Simply outrageous! My accounts had been combined on the same page for six years.

Ooookaaay, I braved calling again (I really hate calling and sitting on the phone for an hour while someone goofs around not even listening to me and then decides on his own what needs to be done without telling me.) After finally getting through on the second try, I reach a pleasant enough (albeit an idiot) young man — Whoever-It-Was — who made precious little attempt to hear me out. On the fourth or fifth try to "fix" the problem, he asks me, "So what exactly is the problem?" I sigh in my most exaggerated way and say, "You appear to be quite slow. The MSN email account no longer has my Verizon account on the same page and I want it baaaaaaaccccccccckkkkkkkk." At which point, he began to laugh. This almost made me laugh and that would've been no good. No, I didn't want to appear all soft and wishy-washy that late in the game.

So Whoever-It-Was called MSN again and relayed this information: MSN is having big troubles with POP3 servers and they are doing a major upgrade sometime in July and all should be well after that. Until then, I shall just have to visit Verizon email on their site and visit MSN email at the usual site and everything will be cool. As for MSN messenger, well, who cares if one is bounced off gazillion times while attempting a pleasant cyber chat. It's a free service, after all. Sigh. Deep Sigh. Deep Deep Sigh.

I'm going to revert to some truly old-fashioned means of communication here very soon...a tin can and some string...sometimes the old ways are the best ways.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Would you believe that there are home remedies that work quite well for toothache? I did a little Googling and I discovered two very promising things: oil of cloves and vanilla. I didn't have any oil of cloves, but vanilla...well, I have tons of that.And it is working! No fuzzy head, no whacky side effects...nothing but vanilla breath.

I hope to visit everyone at some point today. By the way, if I've visited your blog and sat there stupefied for hours or if I slipped in and out without commenting, I hope that you'll forgive me. Just had to know what everyone was up to and thanks to my little friend Vanilla, I'll be good to go today. And no, I have not been drinking the vanilla...just dabbing it on that tooth.

No more reports after this...a simple thumb's up will suffice. Catch you later...

ETA: The deed is done; the tooth is gone; the vanilla really worked. Thank you for all your support, everyone!

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Ever drive by a scene where a home sits high in the hills and looks so charming that you must take the photo? This happens to me all the time. I'm going to start calling it the "Safe Drive-by." Now, thanks to cropping and zoom features, we can actually hope to see what the home really looks like.

Thank you so much for all the comments, concern, and prayers. I had a further setback yesterday afternoon when the dentist's office called to say that my appointment had to be rescheduled for Thursday instead of today. The tylenol with codeine isn't quite cutting it, needless to say, so I have spent as much time as I can sleeping. It's not good sleep, but it is a sort of sleep. Catch you all as soon as I'm back on my feet!

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

I may be looking for advice, but first I'll whine a bit. You don't mind, I hope.

Over the weekend — naturally — I got a toothache from the pits of hell. It started in one spot and, by Monday morning, I couldn't tell where the pain originated as my entire left jaw, both up and down, was involved.

So I called my dentist right after posting yesterday morning and, praise be to God, there had been a cancellation and I was told to get right over there. Fine. Then several x-rays later, I am told that there is no cavity in the suspect tooth, but the nerve is dying and this will require either a root canal or an extraction. Not so fine. Really not so fine at all. A root canal will cost $2200 and the cap an additional $2500. So for the grand total of $4700, I can have my tooth back if the root canal doesn't fail, which they have always done in the past.

Okay, so I decide to have them make an appointment for an extraction and perhaps I'll go the implant route or perhaps I'll have a partial plate made. Partial plate?! Me?! Ackkkkk!!! The partial plate will be the least expensive and also the least satisfactory, I think.

So the question is this: what would you do? Have you had to deal with any of this stuff yet? What was your approach? (I am self-paying...no dental insurance.)

Oh, by the way, the extraction is not scheduled until tomorrow. TOMORROW. Does anyone have a ball-pene hammer?

Monday, June 23, 2008

Week four will be about sharing books and music. Laura had a great love of books and music. Books were a rare treat in Laura's young life and she devoured them when she could get them. Music was a part of her every day life be it Ma humming as she worked, Pa's fiddle playing in the evenings, the family singing together, or Mary's organ music. What songs and books are special to you. Do you have a favorite memory that you associate with a book or song? Link up this week and share it. Also, tell why you love the Little House books and any memories you have associated with them.

First of all, I can not believe that this is the final week of "I Remember Laura." This has been so much fun and I have learned so much and I don't want it to end! I may have to get out my tissues and bon-bons after this posting and have myself a moment.

Like most folks, I have collections of books. You may be surprised to see what they are. I have all of my mother's Nancy Drew and Bobbsey Twins books, but I also have my grandmother's collection of Ruth Fielding. Ruth was the Nancy of my grandmother's day. It isn't a complete collection, but these were wonderful fun for me to read when I was a girl partly because the language was a bit more challenging and I enjoyed that aspect and all the adventures.

You can see that by the time Ruth was headed for college and living at Cameron Hall, the book covers had been updated.

Here are a few illustrations...

The series began in 1913...

The last book in my collection is dated 1928, which means that my grandmother was reading them until she was at least 19 years old. Interesting...

I also collect basal readers. When I was learning to read, I loved them. Of course, they have fallen way out of favor now, but there was nothing more charming to me than Tuffy, Boots, oh Dick and Jane, too. Perfect homes, perfect families, perfect pets, perfect clothes, perfect, perfect, perfect. :D

I've saved the best for last. This Laura Ingalls Wilder book was given to the school library by a former teacher who was especially fond of the series. I rescued it when it was about to be culled. (I'll have more to say about this in a few weeks. ;>)

Music? Miss Sandy included music in this week's assignment? I am certain that I've discussed this before somewhere...

Some of my earliest and fondest memories were of falling asleep listening to my grandparents play all the old music. My grandmother is a skilled, trained, pianist having studied for 12 years and my grandfather was a self-taught fiddler. She learned how to chord so that she could accompany his many tunes from "Turkey in the Straw" to "Down in the Valley." It was always magical to drift off that way. I am certain that Laura and her sisters found it so when Pa played his fiddle so long ago.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

He gave me beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that we might be trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He might be glorified. ~Isaiah 61:3

Friday, June 20, 2008

Yes, I am still practicing moon shots scampering about in the dark getting my face slapped by branches and being eaten alive by mosquitoes and black flies. I tell you I will stop at nothing to gain some success. Mari-Nanci told us that June's full moon is called a "strawberry moon" and La Tea Dah shared what makes it all so very special in her Moon Illusion post. Patient man was still at the wheel and silly woman — that would be moi — was yelling "Stop, I see the moon!" Ridiculous! It did get me a Heath Bar Crunch ice cream cone, though. ;>

This week has been absolutely awful for anyone trying to get some painting done. Just when it seems that the skies will be blue and clear, showers pop up. I think it has rained every single day since last Saturday when the deck was finally painted one coat.

Several weeks ago the deck was stripped using a high powered steam cleaner.

The stripped deck receives some much-needed repair.

And this is how we've been enjoying the deck since.

If anyone's interested, the deck color is Behr's Deck Plus Solid Color Stain in Chatham Fog. I adore this color that's all I know.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Here's a meme where we can all have fun (if you're reading this, consider yourself tagged). It allows us to explore the creative side. I found this while visiting Shanda at Front Porches-Sweet Tea&Old Aprons. She has, herself, written a wonderful response to the poem called "Where I'm From" by George Ella Lyons. You'll find my own response after. Thank you, Shanda, for such a great idea!

I'm from paperI'm from booksI'm from flowersI'm from musica piano filled with melodiesFrom Vic and Marilynand two sisters one blond one brownI'm from the oceanand the swirling tideFrom the lake where the loons cryFrom kissesFrom smitten looksFrom the One whoKnows me best and loves me mostFrom the north born in the southFrom hazelnut coffee with creamFrom blueberriesFrom the forestand the treesFrom the kitchen and the laundry roomFrom the gardenUpon my walls photographs of my loves...From the books I've read, the tunes I hum, the moon I gaze uponFrom the dust...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sooooo, have you anything planned for supper yet?Because if you haven't, I'd like to offer a suggestion. I found these Crash Hot Potatoes at Ree's. Honestly, they are soooooo yummy, soooooo easy. I've made them four times and I'm thinking of making them again tonight. Have I mentioned lately that I'd like to lose weight? Perhaps, I shouldn't make them tonight, but you can!

1. Ten years ago, I was packing up my classroom of thirteen years for the final time. I am certain that I was worrying about what would be next, but "next" came and has continued to come every year since. Sometimes I don't understand how it has all worked out, but I do know that the Lord has always been faithful to me.

2. Clean the garage, clean the basement, clean out the spare closet, paint the second coat of paint on the deck, cull books...why am I so "cleaning" oriented? I wish that I were thinking along the lines of visit Rome, read The Odyssey, learn to bake the perfect apple pie, lose weight, and write a book.

4. Well, of course, I choose to be a billionaire so I will build a library for my hometown, pay off school loans for son and nieces, start some kind of business that would employ a number of people, travel, and finish restoring my home...this one.

5. Virginia, New England, Oklahoma, Arizona, back to New England

Five bloggers should be tagged to answer the same five questions...

I am going to select five relatively "new to me" bloggers who visit me from time to time.

Ladies, please feel free to accept this challenge or not depending upon your own plans. I will not be offended or upset if you choose not to participate, but I really would love to know more about you!

Monday, June 16, 2008

Years ago now, I was attending the funeral of one of my paternal grandmother's dearest friends when I overheard a wonderful conversation between my aunt and one of my aunt's childhood friends. They were reminiscing about time spent in my grandmother's big square kitchen around the large table eating hermits and drinking milk. My aunt's friend said, "I know that this will seem shallow, but I loved spending time at your house because your mother was so much younger than my own. I thought that she was so pretty and so nice. You know, she fed many more children than her own five."

The thought of my grandmother as a wife and mother "young and pretty" feeding the neighborhood kids her delicious hermits and serving up glasses of milk has remained a powerful image for me. My own memories of her were of a woman bent and bowed by time, rheumatoid arthritis, and the cares of the world. I have much appreciated being able to replace those harsher memories with warmer ones.

This is my grandmother's Hermit Cookie recipe. It's hearty — good for growing boys and girls for she always said it was rich in iron.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

It's Father's Day weekend here in the United States. I can no longer assume that this is a world wide event as I have in times past; I learned my lesson with Mother's Day!

Some people say, and I believe that it is true, that a person experiences the Heavenly Father in the same way that he or she experiences an earthly one. My own father and I have had one of those rocky road relationships. I have nearly given up hoping that we'll be able to mend it this side of Glory; although, I earnestly believe that we will have a healthy, whole relationship then.

My experience with my Heavenly Father has been evolving with the reading of good literature and Classic Christianity and a constant going back and forth to scripture. For now, though, my best visual is the relationship that my son has with his two sons. It has taught me more about what it means to love and to be in relationship with God.

Well, see if you can tell what I mean. I was having a playdate with my grandsons yesterday at their home when my son came home for lunch...

Both boys had been busy, very busy, playing, so totally involved in their own pursuits that their mother and I had been having trouble getting their attention. The sound of their dad's car and their dad's voice calling to them was all that was needed to break into their sphere. The anticipation was palpable.

And then the look on their dad's face as he rounded the bend...priceless!

The joy of being in relationship with our Heavenly Father is that He is never absent! We can call on Him at any point through the day or night for He never sleeps. We can snuggle down with Him and tell Him what's on our mind, where our fears lie, what we need. He knows us, loves us, and calls us by name.

Friday, June 13, 2008

A week ago, I was picnicking in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Last night, I was picknicking atop Quaker Ridge overlooking the White Mountains approximately 90 (ETA 68.8) miles to the west. We wanted to watch the sun set over Mt. Washington.

Thank you for your kind comments about the photography. I have so much to learn and yesterday proved that for me. I lost all of my photographs at one point. I think it was because I thought that I was deleting only one. Hopefully, I won't make that mistake again.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

If the year would standStill at June forever,With no further growth on landNor further flow of river,If all nights were shortest nightsAnd longest days were all the seven,This might be a merrier worldTo my mind to live in

~ Christina Rossetti

Lupine House

Garage Hanging Basket

Cream Peony with buttercream center and a tinge of pink in front garden

Lots of green and not much color...yet!

Bridal Wreath

Lupines against a fence

Just a few photos of flowers around my home and neighborhood...I love lupines and they are in full bloom now everywhere in the countryside and, for the brave gardener (they can be invasive), in some gardens. Have you ever been charmed by reading Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney? If not, it's a must read.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

This award is "dedicated to many who nourish and enrich the spirit and creativity. They see dedication, creativity, camaraderie, joy and above all, ART, much art. I wish that this prize is entertaining to all those bloggers and to bloggers who day by day share this space and enrich it a little more each day." ~Arte Y Pico

Now for the rules:

1) Select 5 blogs that you consider deserving of this award, creativity, design, interesting material, and also contrubuites to the blogger community, no matter the language.

2) Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.

3) Each award-winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.

4) The award-winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of "Arte y pico"blog , so everyone will know the origin of this award.

5) To show these rules.

To limit this to five blogs is a huge challenge because there is no one on my blogroll who doesn't inspire me; it is why each and every one is there. Anyway, here goes and in no particular order:

1. Terri @ Wind Lost who writes about life in the most compelling of ways. She does this in the middle of gathering beauty and ideas for her home and thereby our own. If you've not ever read one of Terri's amazing posts, you're in for a revelation. (Hint: you may need your tissue box. I often need mine.)

2. Suzanne @ The Farmer's Wife offers up a daily dose of fun and wit all balanced delicately with a liberal dose of poignancy. You won't be disappointed to read this one on a daily basis.

4. Linds @ Rocking Chair Reflections shares her life in a wonderfully transparent way and with such insights that I find myself there nearly every single day to hear from her. I enjoy pulling up a rocking chair alongside Linds'.

5. La Tea Dah @ Rose Garden Cottage who is offering the most exquisite photographs of roses, their descriptions, poetry, prose, and quotes. I have much enjoyed my time there.

6. Judy @ My Front Porch lives in God's Country with the most exquisite scenes of British Columbia that you'll see anywhere. Beyond that, she writes so well and shares so much and I love visiting her every single day.

7. Alice @ Tea in My Cup faithfully posts on the joys of tea and all the ways that we can create those joys in our own lives. If you need wonderful ideas for entertaining from the food to the decorating, you will love Tea in My Cup.

8. Miss Sandy @ Quill Cottage may be too busy for awards, but she writes one of the most thought-provoking blogs in Blogdom. It's always an inspiration and often a walk down memory lane.

9. Dawn @ The Feathered Nest is one of the dearest, most generous bloggers always gifting her readers with beauty, ideas, and images. If you've never visited her blog, you must today!

10. Lovella @ What Matters Most is a talented gal, also from BC, who charms me every day with her thoughts about life and love. She also shares fantastic recipes (how DOES she stay so thin?) on her new blog called Mennonite Girls Can Cook.

That's ten! Five for Christi and five for Barbara. Thanks so much, gals, for giving me the opportunity to share with ten of my blogging buds and to feature their blogs here once again.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Yesterday, Lovella hosted a gathering of graduation dresses. I certainly hope that you will read her wonderful essay and look at her beautiful yellow dress, which she can still wear! There are also links to follow to see other beautiful gals and their graduation dresses.

My dress and I parted company some years ago...she remains ever the same, but I am much changed. Yesterday, I was unable to find her, but this morning I remembered that she was tucked in a pillowcase in the bottom dresser drawer. She has seen better days, my friends. I don't even have a photo to prove that I ever wore this number, but I assure you that I was fetching. FETCHING I tell you!

The pictures are a fright, but here goes...

We can all be grateful that I was unable to find my lavender gingham dress...graduation had so many events.

Monday, June 9, 2008

A button jar has always been on display in my home for years. It's a collection of buttons started by the former owner of the home that my husband and I purchased in 1979. She was an avid sewer and had many, many buttons stored in jars and tins all over the place. After we had been in the house for some time, I found more stored on the top shelf of the pantry in the shed. Calling to tell her about them, she laughed and said that they were all mine. Goody!

As a child, I was not allowed to play in button collections. Perhaps that is why I kept some on display and allowed all the children who were interested to play with them. My niece was the one who loved them best. She still does and has her own collection now and uses buttons in her art all the time.

Oh, did you notice how clever I was to display the buttons on top of the tabletop quilt that I spoke about at last week's "I Remember Laura"? Yup, just had to show you that I did get it accomplished after all.

Have a wonderful time on this week's button tour! Follow the link at the top of this post...

Sunday, June 8, 2008

"Because you don't believe. You don't know that we love you. The person who lives by her fears will not find freedom in my love... To the degree that (imagined) fears have a place in your life, you neither believe I am good nor know deep in your heart that I love you. You sing about it; you talk about it, but you don't know it." Chapter 10 The Shack

Friday, June 6, 2008

One of the joys of living in my corner is that in about an hour I can be at the ocean if I travel east or in the mountains of New Hampshire if I travel west. Yesterday, we chose the mountains. It's a trip that I've planned for the first good day for the past few weeks.

The unfortunate thing is that the weather here has been unsettled for over a week. Yesterday promised to be the best day with promises of partial sun in New Hampshire so we struck off by nine a.m. with a picnic lunch and planning to find a little diner where we could have some breakfast.

Some time later and with grumbly tummies, we found the Morning Glory Diner. I didn't even take a picture because it was such a hole in the wall, but the food was great.

We were supposed to be taking the famous Kancamagus Highway, which we did right up to the point that we were welcomed to Vermont. Oh well! Someone can't read a map. Now you can see bright sunny New Hampshire day photos anywhere, right? But where are you going to find any like mine? LOL! I'm going to allow the photos to speak for themselves for the most part...

We did a lot of this...

We followed these vintage cars to 2855 feet where the mountain was covered in mist and so no pictures from the peak...darn! My ears popped repeatedly...guess that I'm a lowlander.

A small ski museum offered this display of "When Girls Wore Skirts to Ski." I tell you what...those gals of the 1930s and 40s were well dressed on the slopes!

Mt. Washington Inn

Finally, some lunch! Have you ever seen anyone more happy?

This is how he spent much of the day...patient man!

Mt. Washington at 6,288 feet is the highest mountain in the Northeast United States. A weather observatory sits at the top that measures some of the craziest weather on earth including the highest wind velocity ever recorded anywhere on earth...231 mph! It's up there somewhere, but was wearing a stole of mist yesterday. We decided not to chug the car up that steep mountain road. The joke around here is NEVER to buy a car that has a bumper sticker claiming that it climbed to the top of Mt. Washington.

Homeward bound...

I don't usuallly enjoy following lumber trucks, but this was one well-fitted load.

The day ended with ice cream just as all perfect days do. Thanks for looking at my pictures again and please join Judy at Let's Take a Trip. I see that she went to Hawaii yesterday. ;>